The brand new, visually stunning trailer for Hollyoaks starts off with the most fantastic Pride party… But things quickly take a turn for the worse.

Ste and Harry look like they’re having a great time.

Even as the rain starts to fall…

But look out… The gloved hand killer makes an appearance as the waters rise.

It was filmed over three days at Pinewood studios, using a special underwater tank.

The soundtrack to the trailer is by the fantastic, Charli XCX. Which song? We hear you ask… Die Tonight of course.

Watch the stunning trailer here…

20 years of Hollyoaks, One Killer Week – from October 19th on C4. #hollyoaks20years

https://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.png00ACOMSDavehttps://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.pngACOMSDave2015-10-06 13:01:262015-10-06 13:01:2620 years of Hollyoaks, one killer week

Hollyoaks fans rejoice!

Chief exec Bryan Kirkwood has hinted that Ste and John Paul’s relationship could start up again as the two are due are due to meet up on Christmas day.

“Ste and Harry’s relationship may not mean the end for [Ste and John Paul]. Ste is just unravelling in a different direction, as he often does,” Kirkwood told The Sun‘s TV supplement magazine.

“He desperately wants security and a family around him – but as long as he does, he’s going to continue to make mistakes. Whether John Paul is there to win him over again on Christmas Day, we’ll have to wait and see.”

If only there was some way to see some of our favourite Hollyoaks hunks getting steamy before then. Well, it just so happens that our latest issue is full of just that.

https://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.png00ACOMSDavehttps://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.pngACOMSDave2015-09-28 20:33:232015-09-28 20:33:23Hollyoaks is gearing up for a gay reunion

The critics have had their say about the BBC sitcom, but what did trans people think?

Trans people respond to Boy Meets Girl

BBC

Boy Meets Girl, a British romantic comedy about an older trans woman and her younger cis boyfriend, was a hit with the viewers.

But it is trans people, who are being represented in BBC comedy properly for the first time, that have had the most interesting thoughts on the show.

Rebecca Root, a trans actress, stars in the show in the lead role Judy.

Speaking to GSN, trans male activist Leng Montgomery said: ‘It’s about time British TV started reflecting trans actors in its programmes, especiallly as it’s a great way to include and represent the society we live in.

‘It can also help convey some of the issues trans people face and hopefully create empathy and understanding.

‘I also think it’s very important for visibility as overall it promotes greater understanding and acknowledgement of trans people and opens up a new pool of acting talent.

And Jane Fae, journalist and GSN contributor, said: ”Like many in the trans community, I settled down to watch Boy Meets Girl with the promise of seeing something different. I wasn’t disappointed. It was, as it said on the wrapper, a mainstream romcom/sitcom in which trans is just there: a part of the furniture, if you like, as opposed to the elephant in the room it so often becomes. Especially when well-meaning directors set out to say something meaningful about the topic.

‘But was it any good? Despite the sniffy reactions from some mainstream critics, I think the answer has to be a 100% unqualified yes. The budding romance between transsexual Judy and and shy, self-conscious Leo was touching, appropriately awkward and, in the end, endearing.

‘I suspect I was not the only viewer who felt a lump well up in her throat at their first rain-soaked kiss. Other characters are well-drawn: dialogue is witty in an under-stated sort of way; and in Judy’s mum, Peggy (Janine Duvitski) I could not help wondering if we were watching a national treasure in the making.

‘A big thumbs up to this programme, and to Rebecca Root. It was a long time coming, but is well worth the wait.’

Paris Lees, the top of 2013’s Independent on Sunday’s Pink List, said:

CN Lester, singer-songwriter, had a few more cons to say about the show:

Guys Guys, a British comedy series, is to be played in weekly episodes, launching its first three episodes on 7 September.

The series follows the dating misadventures of a newly single guy who’s just moved to London. The guy, played by Kes Baxter, is put in different dating scenarios with a different guest character in each sketch, which undoubtedly goes very wrong, very quickly.

Written by Kes Baxter along with Lee Butterley it’s based on the successful Dutch web series ‘De Meisjes van Thijs’. Originally starting as an online sketch, it has since been broadcast on Comedy Central in the Netherlands.

Kalki Aporos the series director instantly liked the idea of creating the British version saying: “We loved the character of Thijs and saw a market for something similar in the London gay scene. Guy’s Guys proves that the struggles for awkward people to get a date are universal.

“We have made Guy’s Guys with love and enthusiasm as we basically had no money. Lots of people have dedicated their time and energy into the series, and we hope we’ve produced something that the audience will be able to not only laugh at, but also relate to in some way.”

The Kray brothers are the subject of a new movie, Legend, starring Tom Hardy in both roles. Although Ronnie Kray was said to be openly bisexual (some even say he was gay), his twin brother Reggie was known to be straight. In the trailer for The Krays: Kill Order, a documentary about the notorious East End gangsters, a close connection to the twins claims that both of the brothers liked men.

“They were both bisexual,” says Maureen Flanagan, a hairdresser who had Violet Kray, Ronnie and Reggie’s mother, as one of her clients.

Flanagan also points out Ronnie’s hatred for Reggie’s wife, Frances Shea. According to the documentary, Ronnie was suspected of staging Frances’ murder to make it seem like a suicide. Witnesses claim that Reggie’s marriage was a lie, and that he was actually in love with her brother. Talk about some family drama!

Watch the trailer for the documentary below:

Click here to watch the trailer for Legend with Tom Hardy as both Kray twins.

Dispatches investigates the networks supporting a wave of anti-gay laws around the world

Dispatches takes another look at the rights of gay people around the world

In 2014 Channel 4’s Dispatches revealed the extent of vicious hate crime in Russia with their award-winning documentary Hunted.

Now they’re back with an investigation into the global networks that support all sorts of anti-gay laws around the world.

In this one hour programme, Liz MacKean’s team exposes the well-funded backlash against gay rights led by organisations that promote “family values”.

At a time when equality for gay communities across the globe may feel more within reach that ever before, Dispatches shines a light on a group called the World Congress of Families who have established links in over 80 countries. The documentary investigates the WCF’s involvement in anti-gay laws including the Russian legislation banning gay couples from adopting children.

The Dispatches documentary also interviewed Pastor Scott Lively, who had previously linked homosexuality with paedophilia and who also advised the Ugandan government on how they might take forward their anti-homosexuality legislation.

Hunted: Gay and Afraid was shown on Channel 4 Dispatches, 23 July at 11.05pm, however it is still available on Channel 4 at this time.

Belated as it may be, we are introducing the implied gay sex scene which could land the BBC in trouble with OfCom after 48 complaints were made to the regulatory body (however we now know that the BBC was not landed in trouble – see our previous entry)

BBC/YouTube

A scene between the characters Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid) and Paul Coker saw the pair getting topless and kissing in front of an open coffin in a funeral parlour.Speaking to Digital Spy, a spokesperson for the BBC said,

“The millions of regular ‘EastEnders’ fans who tune in each week know and expect dramatic storylines.

“We are always mindful of our time slot in which we are shown and the scenes in question were implied and not explicit.

Quite a whlle ago, Jim McAlister was on a BBC (NI) talk show ‘Nolan’ which had a number of threads including gay marriage; our reviewer’s analysis was as follow:

…You owe me a serious slug of good rum, mate. Watching an hour of of inter-Unionist wrangling is enough to make a man take to the quare stuff.

I assume it is Series 4, Episode 5, with Jim Alister (a man who rather uncomfortably makes a lot of sense to me), and the UUP man, tho’ I note neither of them makes the obvious comment, “Why aren’t the political groups in contention to run the UK state over here soliciting your votes?”, Shaun Woodward did make subdued comment on that talking about his constituency of St Helen’s. Generally he was talking bollix – the ‘party line’ – I’ve reasons to suspect his personal view is a bit different. He know quite well what Alister said is right, the Scots and Welsh actively campaigned for their representative bodies, the public in NI was overwhelmingly indifferent. The big votes for the GFA then the Assembly was about bringing the gunfire to a halt.

Nolan, 3′ 42″ in, mentioned ‘gay marriage’, presumably on the grounds that the Assembly stopped it. And he said (3′ 42″) “…civil partnership imposed…”, one could quibble about the word ‘imposed’, and the implication that people in NornIrl broadly object to such things, which is probably inaccurate.

But it is only one interpretation of what he said – presumably a committee works on such things to find the BBC’s fabled ‘centre ground’.

What is objectionable is the Beeb’s notion of Gays on one side being balanced by Bible-thumpers on the other, when it is quite clear that people in NI are not merely not anti-LGBT but are largely not merely tolerant, but well-disposed, as proven – beyond peradventure – by three Prides.

And the Prides are not just tolerated, they are popular public events, and people – families – have their own spots to view them from…

Sean McGouran

https://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.png00ACOMSDavehttps://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.pngACOMSDave2015-08-21 20:30:512015-08-21 20:30:51A review of BBC 'Nolan' talk show with Jim McAlister and other guests

With the documentary about his hardships debuting on HBO, the Olympic athlete reflects on downsizing his life and finding happiness.

The documentary Greg Louganis: Back on Boardwas a hit at festivals a year ago, but with its debut on HBO Sports this week, the heartbreaking story of one of America’s greatest athletes will finally reach millions of households who may not be aware of the diver’s ups and downs since he was in the spotlight.

Directed by Cheryl Furjanic and produced by Furjanic and Will Sweeney, the film about the four-time Olympic gold medalist comes at a pivotal time when acute attention is being paid to LGBT athletes, especially after Caitlyn Jenner came out as trans this year and the debut of the docuseriesI Am Cait on E! is creating heightened trans awareness. The fact that some have questioned whether Jenner deserved her medals after the revelation, is a sore point for Louganis as well since people had tried to take his medals after coming out as HIV-positive. But it was Louganis’s husband, Johnny Chaillot who informed Louganis of the similarity.

“I had no idea since I don’t read my press,” Louganis explains, while sipping coffee in a Midtown New York City hotel with his dog Dobby at his feet. “I had competed in the ’88 Seoul Olympics while HIV-positive, and some people said I shouldn’t have been allowed in the country. I’m kind of glad I didn’t know it, but it made me think: How can you deny somebody, especially a physical achievement like that? You can’t take that performance away. It stands on its own.”

Chaillot and Louganis were married in California in the fall of 2013 — and it’s a happy turning point included in the film — and since then, Chaillot has helped Louganis get many of his affairs in order and donated a trove of memorabilia to the National LGBT Museum, which plans to open its doors in New York City in 2019. “They now have the largest collection of Greg Louganis memorabilia collection in the world,” Chaillot says. “Hopefully they are going to do a preview of Greg’s stuff since next year since it’s an Olympic year. We kept some of the bigger items” — including medals from each of the Olympics — “But we donated items like Speedos he wore in competitions and the 1988 sweater he wore in Seoul, so these things would be in a place where the whole world can see them.”

Since the film begins with Louganis in dire financial straits and about to lose his Malibu home, we wanted to know how his life has changed since the filming took place and find out where he’s living these days.

Out: Was it odd that the film starts with you and the house and your financial situation?

Greg Louganis: When I first saw it, I got a little nervous. I think it was important to tell the story because it wasn’t unique: This was happening across the country with loans and the 2006 black mold scare. I know how empowering it can be to know that someone else has been through that. I think it was an important story to tell within the documentary. But we sold the house last year. It was kind of bittersweet, I lived there 29 years. But now we’re completely out of debt. I was able to pay my taxes, my loan, paid for our wedding. Now we have a whole new fresh start.

In many ways, the message of the film seem to be a cautionary tale for athletes and families of athletes to make them aware that you aren’t going to be “golden” your entire life.

Right. That’s why I wanted to talk about mentoring U.S. divers. It’s not just about getting to the Olympics and performing well at the games. What happens after? When you retire from your sport, you’re still pretty young and you almost lose your identity. To go through that process of: Now what do I do? I didn’t know what my passion was going to be. I’ve seen it with the other athletes, you reach a certain age, and you need something else to move to.

One of the more poignant lines from the documentary is when you explain that, having a coach who told you what to do, you never had to think about how to live your life. Do you have any advice for people who have that sort of relationship so it doesn’t necessarily translate into other parts of their lives?

My coach was trustworthy, and I trusted him. We were together for 10 years, so I trust him implicitly. I always knew he had my best interest at heart, but in the “real world” not everyone is trustworthy, so that was a real hard lesson for me to learn. I kept making the same mistakes again and again, but I needed to learn those lessons. I don’t have any regrets, but I would like, in an ideal world, for other athletes and performers and whomever would hear that and not make the same mistakes. Part of that is learning what questions to ask or doing the research, now that we have the Internet, you can look people up and do background checks.

One of the other details revealed in the doc that I didn’t know about: You never had a Wheaties box. I know it’s not the biggest accoldate, but I never realized that you were overlooked in that way.

You know what, I didn’t either until I was working with Cheryl on the documentary, and we were at the International Swimming Hall of Fame where they had all the Wheaties boxes lined up of all the aquatic athletes. It’s box after box after box, of some rather obscure names, and I’m going, “Oh my god, I am nowhere in that group.”

What did that feel like to realize that oversight?

Well that first came out with the book in ’95. I thought, Oh yeah, whatever. I didn’t really know the significance of it until we started working on Back on Board and I saw all the boxes and realized, I’m not there. That was the first time it really struck me what the significance of that was. I realized why people were upset.

But two of the reasons you thought were that there were rumors that you were gay or you felt you weren’t “All-American” enough. But that made me think about people wondering if that would affect Caitlyn Jenner in some way: Would Wheaties do something now that she came out as transgender or would the OIC take away her medals?

I marched in the opening ceremonies with Bruce in 1976. I was on the Tour of Champions with Medco, and they always put me with Bruce and Mark [Spitz], and between the two of them I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I know these people. Then the whole Kardashian thing. I don’t watch TV so I don’t know, I haven’t seen the show.

I wasn’t sharing the Caitlyn sensationalism angle, but I read about trans-exploitation, a term I had heard before, and discussed it with Johnny and what the implications can be. So that was news to me. I did Larry Kramer’s Just Say No with Alexandra Billings, and Alexandra taught me so much about her journey transitioning. That’s been my education. The thing about it is we talk about the LGBT community, but we’re really not informed as a community. I know a lot about the G, and I have wonderful relations with the L in LGBT, but the B, I’m not quite as sure, but I have a better sensitivity to it by viewing sexuality as much more fluid. But I knew nothing about the T in LGBT, so to do that show with Alexandra, I had an education and how to talk respectfully. It’s almost like learning a whole new language. Also, RuPaul is a friend. And RuPaul, he or she, it’s whatever I’m dressed as, that’s how you address me.

Personally, I kind of bristle with the whole “girlfriend” and “she” thing. Someone called me “Oh, girl” or “her” or something like that. And I said, “Excuse me?” I said I’m a man and I’m proud to be a man. I appreciate camp and there’s a time and a place for that but to somebody you don’t know, it can be rather inappropriate.

One of the happiest moments takes place after we see you selling off your memorabilia and medals to save your house, and then you meet Johnny, and you find happiness. Was that something you think the filmmakers were looking for?

I wasn’t in the editing process at all. I relinquished all the creative control, but having built that relationship with Cheryl, she was like my therapist who I would go to. And the crew, too. They lived with us through this, too. One of the crewmembers was going through the same thing I was going through. I just reconnected with him recently and I found out he was also able to get out of the debt and sell his house and he’s moved on.

Now Johnny and I are very cautious about her finances. We’re living well within our means so we can put money aside. We know where we’re at right now is temporary [Chaillot’s one-bedroom Beverly Hills apartment, which he describes as cramped, but “very Gloria Swanson.] It’s affordable and we don’t have to worry where the next job is coming from. We don’t have that pressure. With that lifted, it enables us to have much more freedom.

Greg Louganis: Back on Board debuted on Aug. 4 at 10 p.m. on HBO. Watch a clip below:

https://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.png00ACOMSDavehttps://nigra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo2.pngACOMSDave2015-08-21 08:07:032015-08-21 08:07:03Greg Louganis On How His Life Has Changed for the Better